Bossier City’s finances change hands with new director

Amanda Simmons
amanda@bossierpress.com

Bossier City’s finances are in good hands with the city’s new director of finance.

Stacie Fernandez was named to the position last month and is the first female in Bossier’s history to hold the position.

Fernandez has taken over for Joe Buffington, who left the position to work for Bossier Parish. Although she’s new to the position, she isn’t new to the city or the department.

She was previously the purchasing agent and the assistant comptroller before that.

“I’ve always loved accounting,” Fernandez said. “I love the general ledger, I love doing budgets and I’m learning the bond process now. I’ve got a great support system and fantastic staff here already. And I love this city. I’m incredibly happy working here and hope to retire from here someday.”

Fernandez has been in the accounting industry for 33 years and has worked in the Bossier City finance department for 10 years. Prior to working for the city, Fernandez was the finance director for the Isle of Capri Casino.

The Finance Department of the City of Bossier supports all City departments by providing centralized Accounting, Purchasing, Risk Management, revenue collections, Information Services, Customer Services as well as preparing the City Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. As the Finance Director, Fernandez is responsible for all the money.

“It’s my job to make sure the cash is invested to make the most profit for the city so that we can continue to do the kind of improvements we need,” she said. “We work hard to invest our money properly and responsibly.”

Bossier City’s finances are in great shape, too.

“We’ve got a lot of projects in the works,” Fernandez said. “One of our projects that’s been positive for us is the public-private partnership with Manchac. They are saving us a lot of money. As we’re seeing these projects develop, we are prioritizing what’s most important. Water and sewer is tremendously important as our city continues to grow.”

Like any city, though, there are some challenges to overcome.

“We have to learn how to do more with less,” Fernandez said. “So far, I think we’ve done a great job at doing that. Bossier is growing fast. It’s important that we’re spending and prioritizing to get more bang for our buck.”

One thing she would like to improve are the lines of communication between her department, city administrators and the citizens.

“I try to communicate well when I am contacted directly, but I want to be the vessel to whomever to get those 3 entities together to work for the betterment of our city,” she said.